Debate in the Economic Committee with E-Control board members Urbantschitsch and Haber
Vienna (PK) – Energie-Control Austria (E-Control for short) currently assesses the gas supply situation as more relaxed, although not yet calm. The storage facilities in Austria were filled to an all-time high of over 79% at the beginning of June. This stopped today Economic Committee by the board of E-Control Alfons Haber. However, he also assumes that refilling the storage facilities could be more limited in the next few months. Haber also emphasized positively that consumption in 2023 fell by 5.5% for electricity and by 12.5% for gas. 140,000 applications for new photovoltaic systems were processed in 2023. There are now 400,000 PV systems in the network and capable of producing around 10% of annual production. Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler also highlighted the “huge interest” in PV systems. E-Control contributed to this with a grid connection action plan.
According to Wolfgang Urbantschitsch from the board of E-Control, prices on the energy market began to calm down at the beginning of 2023, although “catch-up effects” in wholesale prices were still noticeable at that time. However, measures such as the electricity cost brake or those for the commercial sector ensured that the price increases were not fully reached by customers.
E-Control’s comprehensive activity report for 2023 (III-1162 d.B.), which gave the MPs the reason for today’s debate with Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler and the board of directors of E-Control, Wolfgang Urbantschitsch and Alfons Haber, in the Economics Committee, was unanimously acknowledged there. In 2023, despite the still difficult situation, the energy supply for the Austrian population was consistently guaranteed, the report says in retrospect. The gas storage facilities were filled more than ever before.
Photovoltaic boom and E-Control action plan
Energy Minister Gewessler points out in the report that electricity generation from renewable energy will have been increased to 87% in 2023. This can be attributed to the photovoltaic boom and an increase in wind power while at the same time reducing fossil fuel production. This puts Austria in second place in an EU comparison. The increase in photovoltaics from 0.98 (2022) to 2.35 terawatt hours (TWh) was supported with a “record federal budget” of €600 million. However, the expansion of the networks, network access rules, power purchase agreements and the increasing number of energy communities would demand a lot from network operators and energy suppliers. In 2023, E-Control developed the grid connection action plan so that photovoltaic systems can be connected to the grid more quickly and much more easily and thus make the desired contribution to the expansion of renewables in Austria. About half of the falling electricity consumption in 2023 can be attributed to self-consumption from photovoltaic systems, Haber explained in response to questions from Maximilian Linder (FPÖ).
Gas diversification and non-Russian imports
Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine, both Austria and the EU as a whole have been pursuing the goal of gas diversification, the report continues. In order to expand the sources of gas supply beyond imports purely through gas pipelines, new routes via the international LNG market are needed. On the infrastructure side, E-Control also approves projects that make it possible to increase imports of gas from non-Russian sources, such as the so-called WAG partial loop. This project was submitted by the network operator and approved as an implementation project by the regulatory authority in May 2023. According to the report, the WAG partial loop project should be implemented by mid-2027.
In addition to the “overall problem” that Alois Schroll (SPÖ) discussed with regard to what he said was still a high proportion of Russian natural gas, a court ruling was also discussed that could have an indirect impact on gas deliveries from Russia, said Christoph Matznetter (SPÖ ) and Karin Doppelbauer (NEOS). Only OMV can provide details, says Urbantschitsch. However, based on the information, he could not rule out the possibility that gas deliveries could not occur as a result of the judgment or possible collection of funds. At the moment nothing concrete is known, said Minister Gewessler.
As far as the German gas storage levy, which Tanja Graf (ÖVP) discussed, she will continue to ensure that it is eliminated as quickly as possible, said Gewessler. It has been announced that it will end in 2025, although the parliamentary process with the corresponding change in the law is only just beginning.
Regarding the WAG-Teilloop project, Haber added, among other things, that, according to his latest information, the expansion was on schedule. As far as he knows, residents’ concerns about laying power lines there at the same time have not yet been conclusively assessed.
In response to questions from Lukas Hammer (Greens) regarding the legal obligations of energy suppliers when it comes to accounting, Urbantschitsch discussed that in the event of misconduct, E-Control itself can only request correction and not punish, but if necessary, administrative criminal charges would also be filed.
Hydrogen as a gas alternative
According to the report, hydrogen is increasingly finding its way into the future plans of the energy world as a gas alternative and is therefore also becoming relevant as a new regulatory area for E-Control. According to the Austrian hydrogen strategy, 70 TWh of climate-neutral hydrogen should be used by 2040. In order to cover the gap between internal production and demand, around 70% of this should be imported in the long term. In addition to issues such as the development of infrastructure and production as well as the design of the regulatory framework, E-Control believes that a national network operator should be appointed to set up and operate a hydrogen network, according to the report. In response to questions from Petra Oberrauner (SPÖ), Gewessler said that, in her view, E-Control would also be very suitable for regulating this area. Overall, an amendment to this topic is being worked on at full speed.
More inquiries than ever before at the advice center
The E-Control board also states in the report that the E-Control advisory center had to deal with more inquiries last year than ever before. With around 42,700 inquiries and complaints, an increase of 29% was recorded compared to 2022. Applications to the arbitration board increased by 35%. Visits to the tariff calculator site increased from 1 million to 2 million in the already extremely strong year of 2022, thus doubled in 2023. (Conclusion of the Economic Committee) mbu
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